Not every hero of the Rebellion’s name is remembered - some war heroes sacrifice for the cause without any notion of fame or glory. In Star Wars Legion the Rebel Officer is a low cost non-unique all purpose commander who is skilled at keeping troops on the field.

Base Unit Summary: (commander)

Damage Output - Ranged: Below Average: 1

Damage Consistency Ranged: Average: none

Damage Output - Melee: Below Average: .625

Damage Consistency - Melee: Average: none

Damage Resistance: Below Average: 33.4%

Wounds: Average: 4

Attrition: Above Average: 4/figure

Range: Below Average: 1-2

Speed: Average: 2

Courage: Above Average: 2

Role: Commander, Support

Unit Role:

The Rebel Officer is the first non-unique commander for the Rebels and fills a small but important role on the field - they are a bubble of hope and courage for your other troops and allow you access to additional command upgrade slots at a low cost.

Base Unit Analysis:

The Rebel Officer is underwhelming in a combat role. Their damage output is below average, their damage resistance is below average… the only things they really have going for them are their support abilities and their courage bubble - which is exactly the abilities you should be taking them for. These generic commanders will never make up their points on their own, but they can turn the tide of battle by enhancing other combat units, keeping units from fleeing, or providing access to support and scenario presence.

Unique Upgrade Analysis:

Rebel Officers have no unique upgrades at this point.

Command Cards:

Rebel Officer’s command cards are a bit different from other operative commanders, in that they are not character specific and can be take and used by any commander of the same faction.

Sabotaged Communications: initiative 1, any 1 Special Forces or Operative unit; This command card reduces the number of order tokens an opponents command card generates by 1 to a minimum of 1. This card varies in usefulness from no better than an Ambush to absolutely devastating depending on what card your opponent plays. If an opponent plays a card that only issues a single order then this card does nothing additional - but if the opponent plays one of Chewbacca’s command cards for example, which requires both face up order tokens, then you have effectively shut down their plan and stolen their trick for the round. Playing this card effectively requires a solid knowledge of your opponents available tools, strategy, and when they are likely to play their critical and disruptable tricks.

Turning the Tide: initiative 2, any 2 Support or Heavy units; While this command card issues an order to any two support or heavy units, it grants all friendly support and heavy units Inspire 2. This card is especially strong in lists that use a large amount of low cost models such as troopers and AT-RT. The timing of this card is fairly easy as you can play it after a round you have received a lot of suppression, or at the start of a turn you expect to receive a lot of suppression. Remember that the Inspire Keyword happens at the beginning of the support or heavy units rally step, so using their order tokens to delay their activation and maximize the inspire keyword is a smart idea.

Covering Fire: initiative 3, any 3 Corps units; This command card grants an order token to 3 corps units, in addition after any friendly corps unit performs an attack, whether it has an order token or not, it gains can assign 1 dodge token to another friendly unit at range 1-2, the unit receiving this token does not have to be a corps unit. This command card gets a lot of mileage in rebel lists, between Teamwork and Nimble Rebels want to have a lot of dodge tokens but dont necessarily want to spend actions to gain them. This card does require good positioning and timing as your corps units will want to activate before the opponent attacks and will also have to be in range 1-2 of another unit that needs the dodge token.

Suggested Upgrades:

Rebel Officers have a command upgrade slot and a gear upgrade slot. In general you want to keep this unit as cheap as possible because they are already inefficient in combat for their points, but command upgrades are rare - and there are some abilities found on them that grant army wide benefits - because this is the cheapest source of command upgrades there are some good options to look at in them. Specifically Improvised Orders or Commanding Presence which extend the control and utility of your forces.

Suggested Tactics:

The Rebel Officer is truly a support piece. They are best used enhancing other units on the field and staying away from combat. The Take Cover ability allows you to spend an action to give a dodge token to another unit, greatly improving the action economy of the other unit as well as the timing window they can receive the dodge before being attacked which is quite valuable on the right unit.

The optimal use for the Officer is to support and enhance the other units around it, and to claim the scenario objective if they can. If the Officer can grab an objective point it frees up actions and positions for the rest of your other units to focus more on combat efficiency.

The Officer is also a great cheap source of enhanced courage bubble and command upgrade utilities like Improvised Orders. Keep this in mind when moving units around the field to ensure that they remain within the Commanders aura of influence.

Counter Tactics:

The Officer is not a unit that needs to be feared and should generally not be a priority. Their combat efficiency if well below average and their survivability is slightly below average. That being said, if the Officer is the source of a particular command upgrade that is a thorn in your side or that your opponents game plan hinges on then it should not be too hard to eliminate them if the opportunity presents itself.

On the other hand though, if the Officer is the main thing keeping your opponents troops from panicking and fleeing, then make an effort to eliminate them first. This shouldn’t be hard, and the tide of battle will turn quickly once your opponents units begin to flee. Keep in mind their other units command values however, it is possible that they have a non-commander unit with a higher command value they can promote to be the new commander, making the suppression and panic tactic harder to achieve.

Scoping

Scoping is the tactic of placing terrain between the attacking unit and the defending unit so that you can single out models in a unit to wound- scoping is a key tactic if you use high value low output units or you are up against an opponent who has high value models within a unit. Knowing how to scope or how to avoid it can often be the deciding factor in winning the sniper war.

The premise is pretty easy, but the actual execution requires foresight, precision, and appropriate terrain. The core of scoping is to reduce targets eligible to be allocated wounds so that you can deal wounds to the optimal model.

Relevant Rules:

version 1.2.0

Attack:Declare Defender: The attacking player chooses one enemy unit to attack; this enemy unit is now the defender. Then, the attacking player measures the range from the attacker’s unit leader to the closest miniature of the defender to determine the attack’s range.

Line of Sight: Line of sight is used to determine if one mini can see another mini. A player determines line of sight from the perspective of a mini, using a viewpoint where the center of the mini’s base meets the top of the mini’s sculpt. If a player can see part of an opponent’s mini, which includes that mini’s base, from that viewpoint, that player’s mini has line of sight to that opponent’s mini.

Range: When measuring range to or from units for abilities and for game effects, range is measured from the closest mini in the unit or to the closest mini in the unit. Range is only measured from the unit leader when performing an attack, or if the ability or game effect explicitly states it is.

Wounds: During an attack, if line of sight to a mini in the defender is blocked from all minis in the attacker, that mini in the defender cannot suffer wounds. A mini with at least one wound token assigned to it is wounded. When assigning wound tokens, wounded minis must be chosen to suffer wounds before minis that do not have wound tokens. The unit leader cannot be chosen to suffer wounds unless it is the only mini in the unit that is in line of sight of the attack, if it is the only wounded mini in the unit, or if it is the last mini in the unit.

Understanding:

Given the above rules we see that there are situations we can create that limit the opponents ability to decide which models within a unit receive a wound. The core of this tactic falls within the Wounds clause that prevents models who are out of line of sight from receiving wounds. The remaining clauses will assist us in creating situations in which we can control who is in and out of line of sight, and thus who is eligible to receive wounds. Let’s take a look at examples below.

Execution:

Terrain Scoping: This is the most common type of scoping as it is the easiest to pull off and requires nothing more than the attacker, the defender, and a piece of terrain that blocks line of sight. To properly set up a Terrain Scoping scenario you will want to move your entire unit so that only the mini you want to wound is visible, it is okay if they see the unit leader as well. If even one mini in the attacking unit can see other minis in the defending unit, the defender can allocate wounds away from the mini you want to remove. In the below example every model in the attacking unit can see the target model, but cannot see any of the other models in the defending unit, so the target model is the only model who is eligible to receive wounds.

The below example also works. Although our #2 attacker can see the unit leader as well, the target model will be assigned wounds first as the unit leader has to be the last model to be assigned wounds if able. Often this is the ideal situation to setup because if there are any leftover wounds after removing the target mini, all additional wounds would be assigned to the unit leader instead of being lost like in the previous example.

The following example is scoping gone wrong. Although our unit leader and model #1 still can only see our target model, but our model #2 was placed too far to the side and now can see the more models in the defender than our target. This makes our scoping not work, because one model can see other models in the unit our opponent can now assign wounds to any model that is visible. Even if our unit leader is not the one who is able to see them.

Vehicle Scoping: Vehicle Scoping works the same as Terrain Scoping in all regards, except you can move the vehicle into the optimal position when there is no line of sight blocking terrain available. Note that this can only be accomplished with a vehicle that completely blocks line of sight to the target, right now no such vehicle exists although a solid ground vehicle would be able to.

Wound Scoping: Wound Scoping is the only form of scoping that does not involve line of sight. Some abilities in the game can assign a wound to a specific model, such as Force Choke. Using the clause under Wounds we see that a model that already has a wound must be assigned more wounds before any other model can be assigned wounds. That means that when dealing with multi-wound models we can set up situations where we can remove the desired model, even when we can see the entire unit like in the example below.

Limited Visibility Scoping: Limited Visibility is worded so that line of sight is limited, not that weapons ranges are limited. This gives us one extra way we can use scoping that may be unexpected to our opponents. Because line of sight is limited, we can limit which models are eligible to receive wounds using distance, which we cannot do under normal circumstances.

In the below example, even though our model has a range 3 weapon, because line of sight is blocked after range 2, the only models he can technically see are our target and the unit leader, meaning that any wounds he inflicts must be allocated to the target first and any left over wounds are allocated to the unit leader second. Models 1 and 2, although perfectly visible are technically out of line of sight for him and thus not viable targets.

The below example is as weird and as complicated as it gets for scoping. Let’s assume in the example below that we are under the same circumstances as the example above. But in this case the yellow lines represent range 2 from each model. Although range is always determined from the unit leader, line of sight is always determined from each individual model. so although the units attack range is determined from the leader and it is within range, line of sight is determined from each model and all the models other than the unit leader are at range 2. This sets up a situation where even though the unit leader cannot see, the other models are in range and can attack. Because the unit leader has no line of sight you would assume the defender would normally be allotted some cover, however the cover and line of sight rules do not cover this, and as it stands the defender would be granted no cover as currently cover is only granted by terrain and keywords and limited visibility is neither. So using Limited Visibility it is possible to set up situations where you can use cohesion, range, and limited line of sight to scope out target models.

below is the cover rules that would be applicable. Expect this interaction to change at some point.

Determine Cover: If at least half of all of the defender’s minis are obscured, that unit has cover. The type of cover that unit has is determined by the object that is obscuring the minis, as follows: (there are no sections that cover obscured minis that aren’t obscured by terrain. This is the closest the RRG comes to covering the situation, but does not do an adequate job of determining if or how much cover is provided: If the attacking unit leader’s base is touching a piece of terrain, that piece of terrain cannot cause a mini in the defender to be obscured, unless line of sight from the unit leader to that mini is completely blocked.)

Wrap Up:

With these 4 new tools in your kit, you should have a much stronger control over who in the unit receives a wound. Keep these tactics in mind when moving your uni as well to prevent the opponent from being able to scope out your valuable figures. As with all new tactics you learn, keep an open mind on how to apply them while playing and use them in ways that make sense to your playstyle - understanding and applying in your own way is always more valuable than copying.

Upgrade Summary:

For 8 points and a gear slot this upgrade adds the ability to postpone 2 wounds until the end of the units next activation.

Upgrade Analysis:

At 8 points Emergency Stims is quite expensive, especially if you are upgrading multiple units with them. 4 Emergency Stims costs more than a Bowcaster or an Electrostaff Guard for reference and often don't make up the attrition output difference because they aren’t extra health but postponed wounds. However for critical units like commanders and operatives it can be a valuable addition or even decide a game.

Suggested Use:

The best unit for Emergency Stims currently is any unit with Guardian, as they will often take extra wounds over the course of a game and can absorb additional wounds off of key units. Emergency Stims is also quite valuable on commanders and operatives or any unit who is high value and can greatly affect a game outcome with one last activation.

Available In:

Upgrade Summary:

For 5 points and a grenade slot this upgrade adds a new weapon to the unit with one red die and adds surge to crit to the unit as long as one grenade is in the attack pool.

Upgrade Analysis:

Frag Grenades are a halfway point between Impact Grenades and Concussion Grenades. They aren’t exceptional against armor or units in cover, but are not bad against either. In addition, if the target is unarmored and in the open then Frag Grenades are better than the other two giving all three grenades their own specialization.

Suggested Use:

This is a very useful upgrade for units that want to get close to their target and either need to be able to deal with Armor or cover, or increase their damage output at short range (if they normally roll less than one red die or don’t surge). While Impact and Concussion Grenades tend to be better on Imperial troops over rebel troops, Frag Grenades are better on Rebel troopers than Imperial troopers as they as they add surge conversion on attack, but it is not recommended on Fleet Troopers as their 2 white dice is on average pretty close to 1 red die and they already convert surges on attack. Because grenades add a new weapon for 5 points, the more figures in the unit that can use the weapon, the more efficient the upgrade is.

Available In:

Upgrade Summary:

For 2 points and a gear slot this upgrade adds the Scout 1 keyword to a unit or increases a units Scout X value by 1 to a maximum of 3, allowing them to make a move when they are deployed with a speed equal to their Scout X value.

Upgrade Analysis:

At 2 points Recon Intel is very affordable and the benefits are almost always useful. At worst you will not use it and are only out 2 points, at best it will allow you to start your game in better cover or with range to an objective or attack.

Suggested Use:

Recon Intel is very beneficial to units that rely on their mobility or units that want to be in and around cover to increase their survivability. This upgrade is almost essential on melee units like Luke, but if you have spare points and gear slots this upgrade is good on almost every unit. It is best on units that already have Scout X to increase their already existing benefit.

Available In:

Blocking

Blocking is the tactic of placing an obstacle, objective, or unit in your opponents path to prevent them from reaching a specific point - blocking is a key tactic if you use melee units or you are up against an opponent who has melee units. Knowing how to use blocking or how to get around it can often be the difference between slaughtering the opponent with your lightsaber or being caught out in the open staring down the enemies gun line.

The premise is pretty easy, but the actual execution requires an abundance of foresight and precision. The core of blocking is to stop an opponent from getting into melee by denying them a path or a landing zone. Now let’s break down how it works in detail.

Relevant Rules:

version 1.2.0

Cohesion: When placing a mini in cohesion, it cannot be placed in base contact with enemy minis, unless the unit is in melee.

Melee: If a unit has a melee weapon, it can start a melee by moving into base contact with an enemy miniature. You cannot move a unit such that it would be in base contact with multiple enemy units–effectively starting a melee.

Movement: Troopers can move through repulsor vehicles, but cannot move through ground vehicles. Troopers can move through other troopers. A mini's base cannot be placed such that any part of it overhangs a ledge. Unless a unit is able to displace other minis, the final position of a unit after a move cannot overlap the bases of other minis. The final position of a unit after a move cannot overlap objective or condition tokens.

Understanding:

Given the above rules we see that there are situations we can create that deny opponents the path or the landing zone to enter into melee with our unit. The interaction between the Melee and Cohesion clauses mean that the unit leader must be the one to move into base to base contact to establish melee, and not any other mini in the unit, and this is the core of blocking. The Movement and Token clauses provide us with ways to deny movement paths and landing zoned for that unit leader through the clever and precise use of terrain, tokens, and other minis. Let’s take a look at examples below.

Execution:

Terrain Blocking: This is probably the most common version of blocking because it involves no additional models and most pieces of terrain will do the trick. Because most units cannot move through impassable terrain, or are slowed down by difficult terrain, and can only make a pivot of up to 90 degrees in the center joint on the movement tool (and not freely along the path) we can place a unit so that terrain between the threatening unit and the target unit effectively denies the threatening unit a legal path into melee in the first place. There are a couple ways to achieve this…

In the first example you can see that although model A clearly has enough move distance to reach model B, because of the position of the models relative to the terrain there is not a legal path to move model A into base contact with model B. A straight move will not produce an angle that will bring model A into base contact with model B, and because the pivot is in the center of the movement widget as you create the correct angle to put model A into base contact with model B the widget has to swing away reducing the effective distance moved also keeping the models from ending in base to base.

The second example is similar to the first, and it is equally as valid with difficult terrain as it is with barricades or any other effect that slows a unit. In this example model A would clearly normally have the speed to cover the distance to the target, but because moving through difficult terrain reduces the moving models speed by one, the new speed after adjustment is no longer enough to cover the distance to reach the target. Keep in mind that like in the first example, you still have to account for all the possible angles and positions of their full movement to ensure that there isn’t a path created by their full move that would skirt the difficult terrain and still land them in base contact with the target model.

Vehicle Blocking: Vehicle blocking works the same as the impassable terrain example above, but is easier to set up because all elements required are under your control. Because most units cannot move through ground vehicles, we can place a ground vehicle between the threatening unit and the target unit effectively denying them a path into melee in the first place.

There are some additional considerations in vehicle blocking though - mainly that the blocking piece (the vehicle) is moveable and destroyable - so in addition to paying attention to all possible angles, you also have to be aware of effects and circumstances in which the vehicle can be moved out of a blocking position or worse, destroyed. But the blocking unit being mobile isn’t strictly a drawback. The units can also be moved together to create a “moving fortress” and additionally you get two activations to get the blocking positions right or adjust if your opponent catches you off guard, as opposed to just the one chance offered by terrain blocking.

“Elevation” Blocking: This form of blocking can be difficult to set up as you need the right piece of terrain in the right location on the table at the right time - but it is something to keep in mind when you need it. Using the clause under movement “A mini's base cannot be placed such that any part of it overhangs a ledge” we can create a situation in which there is no valid landing zone for the threatening unit to end their move in melee with the target unit.

Although I’m calling this “elevation” blocking, it doesn’t always have to be true Elevation as defined in the RRG, it just has to be a piece of terrain with a ledge - in this example let’s say it is terrain that isn’t flush with the table, but isn’t tall enough to slow the unit or require a climb or clamber - a set of stairs or a raised slab would be a great fit in this example. Because models can’t be placed with their base overhanging a ledge you can create a situation where there are no valid landing zones in base to base with your model. Keep in mind though, that because troopers can move through other troopers (friendly or enemy) that if the model has enough movement to move past your model they do have a valid landing zone behind your model as shown in the second example.

Token Blocking: Token blocking is a little easier to set up than terrain blocking because more of the elements are under your control, but is much more limited in usefulness because you will have to be on a mission objective that provides objective tokens as well as the threatening model being able to move through objectives. Using the clause under Objective Tokens “Miniatures can move through but cannot overlap objective tokens,” we can set up scenarios where we can deny the threat model a valid landing zone in melee with the target unit if we can place the objective so that the threatening model would have to stop on top of the objective to end in base to base with the target model.

In the first example the target unit is in base contact with the objective token, most likely because they have claimed it and are carrying it with them. In this scenario you get to place the objective in base contact with the unit leader after moving, so you can position it in the ideal location to block. Note that the threatening model can move through the objective, but cant stop on it, so the effective positions

In the second example the target model is not in base to base with the objective but has positioned it so that the threatening units only landing spot in base to base would still have to over lap the objective.

Model Blocking: Model blocking is by far the easiest to set up because every part of the required items are under your control and you don’t need to be on a specific mission objective for the required components - but Model Blocking is also the least powerful because the threat model can elect to enter melee with the blocking model instead of the target model. Using the clause under Melee “You cannot move a unit such that it would be in base contact with multiple enemy units–effectively starting a melee” we can set up situations where the opponent cannot land in melee with the target without also landing in melee with the blocking unit making that an invalid landing zone and the threat model will have to select a different landing zone.

In all of the above examples, model A cannot move into base to base contact with model B without also moving into base contact with a model C. Therefore because model A cannot enter melee with two units at once, model A cannot engage model B in melee. Model A can however still move into melee with model C and begin a melee there, ignoring model B. Because of this, model blocking is the least powerful form of denial.

Distance Blocking: Although distance isn’t exactly blocking, it is still an easily accessible and often more reliable strategy of denying melee than the above examples of blocking, and so it should be brought up here as well.

The keys to distance blocking is knowing your ranged and speeds and how they relate to each other. The most important example to know is that a small base moving speed two is millimeters short of a range one distance. that means that if you move a model so that it is touching one end of a range 1 widget and the other end of the range 1 widget is touching the other model in question, then that model can’t end in melee with you after 1 speed 2 move. When playing things that are counting on margins this narrow it is important to premeasure and get acknowledgement from your opponent - saying something like “my intent is to be exactly at range one so that you can’t move to engage me, do you agree this is exactly at range one?” is a great habit to get into when playing competitively and helps make situations like this clear and easy to manage.

Wrap Up:

With these 6 new tools in your kit, you should have a much stronger control over the pace of when and how melee happens in your games of Star Wars: Legion. In addition, although all of these tactics above are useful in preventing a melee scenario, some of them are also useful in preventing an opponent from reaching an objective point or any location you don’t want them to reach in general - especially vehicle blocking. As with all new tactics you learn, keep an open mind on how to apply them while playing and use them in ways that make sense to your playstyle - understanding and applying in your own way is always more valuable than copying.

Games aren’t always about competition and winning. Sometimes they are about creative expression, narrative, and enjoying time with friends. Here are some art assets to help you create your own content for home use. Recreate your favorite movie or EU battles, or your favorite Edge of the Empire mission… and please share your creations with the community, but don’t forget to mark what you make as homebrew so that others aren’t confused. Now get creative, and may the force be with you.

How to Use:

download the blank templates

open the file in a layer compatible image editor such as PhotoShop or alternative

Chewbacca is a faithful companion and stops at nothing to help out his friends. In Star Wars: Legion Chewbacca is the first Rebel Operative and he brings a whole new set of tricks to the way the Rebels play.

Unit Role:

Chewbacca is a guardian and a support unit who is there to keep you more valuable units in the game longer. He does this through his massive health pool, his guardian 3 ability, his friend supporting command cards and synergies, and simply being a durable fast unit to tarpit and speed bump with.

Base Unit Analysis:

Much like the Wookie Warriors, Chewbacca has a poor damage resistance paired with an obscenely large health pool. This combination means that if you are able to use the games constants well in your favor such as dodge and cover you can make him last quite some time. Unlike the Wookie Warriors though, Chewies damage output leaves something to be desired. Chewbacca’s ranged damage output is far below average, but his surge to crit and pierce 1 mean that he is fairly reliable at getting his small amount of damage through. For example an average 80 point unit is expected to do 4 damage while Chewie at 110 points does 2.5. Against the corps unit the defender should be stopping half of that meaning 2 damage get through… out of Chewbacca’s 2.5 damage on the other hand, the opponent will stop 1.25 damage, and then pierce will get another 1 damage through for a total of 2.25… and Chewies surge to crit only makes him more reliable than average troopers against units in cover or with dodge or guardian. So although Chewie isn’t putting out the numbers we have seen from other units with similar costs, he is still keeping up with the average units… Damage output isn’t why you are taking him though. The big appeal for Chewie is his Guardian 3 keyword, his command cards, and most excitingly his Teamwork ability which lets him double your token action economy when you pair him with Han. So although Chewie seems overpriced at first glance when looking at his combat effectiveness - he actually is fairly efficient when taking into account all of his abilities and the utility and durability he adds to your forces.

Unique Upgrade Analysis:

Chewbacca has no unique upgrades at this point. yeah

Command Cards:

Common Cause: initiative 1, Chewbacca and Luke Skywalker; This is the first 1-pip command card that gives and order token to more than one unit, which is quite powerful on its own - moreover it lets you activate one unit right after the other giving you quite an advantage if you are able to “last / first” with these two powerful characters. The ideal situation is that you have more activations than your opponent (as rebels often do) and you activate Luke and Chewie last in a round, then in the following round you play Common Cause to activate the pair again first to press your advantage or get them back to safety. Note that unlike Leia’s card with a similar effect, there is not range restriction on this card so the pair don’t have to be anywhere near each other to benefit from the effect.

Brains and Brawn: initiative 2, Chewbacca and Leia Organa; This card allows Chewbacca to attack twice in a turn assuming he meets all the requirements; that he is unengaged, within range, in LoS, and is adding his weapon to a dice pool that Leia is attacking. Normally getting Leia up close enough to attack can be a bit of a risk, but combined with Esteemed Leader and Chewies Guardian ability she should be pretty safe when playing with Chewie - the most likely situation however is that the pair is holding an objective and the enemy gets close enough for Leia to move and shoot. With combination of Leia and Chewies dice make for a pretty incredible attack too, keeping in mind that you keep Leia’s keywords and the keywords on Chewies weapon you now have 2 red, 3 black, 2 white dice with Sharpshooter 2, surge to crit, and Pierce 2 for an expected 4.375 damage. Taking into account that this attack ignores cover and has pierce 2 you are likely to kill an entire average unit in one attack with this. That makes this quite a powerful command card, but its not without its risks, getting Leia that close to the action. Note that Chewbacca isn’t making an attack, so triggers like Hunter and Standby don’t trigger and you can’t spend tokens off of Chewbacca for this attack.

Notorious Scoundrels: initiative 3, Chewbacca and Han Solo; This card allows you to return one of Han Solo’s unique command cards to your hand and issue an order to both Chewbacca and Han Solo. Although this card doesn’t have a huge impact itself, the ability of control you have when you are now playing with 2 copies of one of Han’s cards is immense. If you are playing Han and Chewie together (and you should be for Teamwork) then this card should absolutely be included in your command hand. 2 well timed Reckless Diversions or Sorry About the Messes in one game could be enough to decide a game in your favor alone.

Suggested Upgrades:

Chewbacca has two training upgrades and one gear upgrade slot.

Because Chewie has slightly different roles depending on which commanders you are using him with his upgrades will change slightly in each list - but Emergency Stims are never a bad choice on Chewie since in most roles he plays he will be using his guardian ability a lot. Emergency Stims is an incredibly efficient source of extra wounds on Chewie, especially if it makes the difference in Chewie getting one last activation.

For the Training upgrade slot you have a couple of valid ways you can go. Generally Tenacity is always good on Chewie. Because of his high health pool and Guardian keyword you will always be able to set up using Tenacity to increase his melee output. Tenacity raises his melee damage from 3.5 to 4.25 bringing him to almost average for his cost. However combine that with his Enrage 4 ability and he becomes quite versatile by gaining the charge ability.

Duck and Cover is a decent choice on him because his damage resistance is so low, that extra point of cover can really help extend his life. However this upgrade is a bit expensive and really only going to make a difference if he is the primary target (not when he uses Guardian). So it is an upgrade you could skip. Hunter is also a nice upgrade on him, especially when paired with Han. Using Hunter you can up his ranged damage a decent amount as well as gaining extra aim tokens for Han in the process using Teamwork.

Generally, and especially when pairing Chewie with Han, the upgrades to consider first are Emergency Stims, Tenacity, and Hunter although none of them are mandatory.

Suggested Tactics:

As I mentioned before, Chewie’s role changes slightly depending on what commanders he is paired with - but he has some consistent elements we can talk about first.

In a vacuum Chewie is a bit of a brawler with a bit of support built in. Making him a really good bodyguard for your key units. In addition he is relatively good at both ranged and melee combat. His turn to turn output is a little low, but over the course of a game he should make up for that nicely with his attrition value. If you are running him with a commander other than the three his command cards support, then it is recommended that you run him as a bodyguard with one of your flankers, skirmishers, or key units. Such as Wookie Warriors, Commandos, or holding an objective. Use his Guardian ability to keep the key unit alive and to activate his Enrage ability so that he can charge for free at which point he is able to mix it up quite well at range with enemies closing in on your key position or unit.

Generally he wants to be with Han; because of his Teamwork ability which really expedites your action economy by sharing and doubling dodge and aim tokens between the two of them. In addition, Notorious Scoundrels brings one of Han’s command cards back to your hand, making for a very strong control play style. When playing Han and Chewie together they will want to be close together, using Chewies Guardian ability to soak shots off of Han. Chewie also makes a great tarpit for Han, keeping him out of melee - one of Han’s biggest weaknesses. Running the two close together also gives you a small easy to hide package that counts for 2 when checking scenarios like Key Positions or Intercept the Transmissions. In this configuration it is nice to have Hunter upgrade on one or both of them. Having Hunter on Han allows Han to shoot two targets hopefully gaining an aim token or two which would also gain an aim token or two for Chewie, which Chewie can use to reroll for crits to get through armored targets, dodge, or cover - and the same works in reverse, chewie can attack a wounded unit to gain an aim he can spend to get through cover which gives Han an aim he can also spend to try to fish for crits. Remember when paring these two together to always keep them within range one of each other to benefit from Guardian and Teamwork.

Chewie with Leia is also a strong combination. Leia is one of the Rebellions best support units, and has a weapon that really wants her to be up in the front, but her survivability says she should stay in the middle or back. Chewbacca helps keep Leia alive while she advances up the board. In this pairing Chewie plays very similar to how he would with Han, although he will be a bit more defensive than offensive and will tend to engage more at range than rushing in with Han.

Chewie with Luke is a hammer and anvil on a micro scale. If when paired with Han he is balanced and when paired with Leia he is defensive, than the pairing with Luke is the most offensive of the pairings. Chewie will still be using his Guardian keyword to soak wounds off of Luke (at least until he triggers Enrage) and then the two will charge in together to make quick work of enemy troops in melee. In this pairing Chewie will definitely want Tenacity to make the most of his melee brawling.

Counter Tactics:

Chewie is most harmful to you when he is keeping other more important units alive. To that end it is a hard choice when deciding whether to attack Chewie directly or to attack the more pressing target and kill Chewie through the use of his Guardian keyword, but it is easier to make the decision when looking at what weapons you have available to you. Because Chewbacca has a high health pool and low damage resistance you will want to focus a high volume of low value damage into him such as your corps troopers. However if you have a weapon with a high chance of rolling criticals you can bypass Chewies Guardian with those wounds to damage the intended target.

Chewies secondary threat, beyond keeping other key units alive, is his melee damage. Chewie with Tenacity and Enrage deals quite a bit of damage in close combat and should be avoided avoided by units that aren’t melee focused. Keep in mind his charge range when moving ranged units close to him. If keeping Chewie at range though he is generally fairly inconsequential at damage output which allows you to focus on more pressing units or objectives.

Games aren’t always about competition and winning. Sometimes they are about creative expression, narrative, and enjoying time with friends. Here are some art assets to help you create your own content for home use. Recreate your favorite movie or EU battles, or your favorite Edge of the Empire mission… and please share your creations with the community, but don’t forget to mark what you make as homebrew so that others aren’t confused. Now get creative, and may the force be with you.

How to Use:

download the blank templates

open the file in a layer compatible image editor such as PhotoShop or alternative

Games aren’t always about competition and winning. Sometimes they are about creative expression, narrative, and enjoying time with friends. Here are some art assets to help you create your own content for home use. Make your Edge of the Empire character in Legion, or your favorite EU character… and please share your creations with the community, but don’t forget to mark what you make as homebrew so that others aren’t confused. Now get creative, and may the force be with you.

If you are looking for some guidance to make a balanced character, you can use these classes as guides.

Impassable Terrain is clarified to mean terrain that you cannot move over via a standard move action, but that you can often Jump, Climb, Clamber over depending on the specific terrain. Previously there was some confusion leading to players believing “Impassible” meant impassible.

Bounty Keyword has been updated to show that any bounty token counts, it doesn’t have to be the one that the unit declared at deployment. meaning that if your Boba Fett kills the opponents Boba Fett who has already claimed their bounty, you get their bounty token. Or if at some point we get two units with Bounty, they are not specific to the unit that issued them so you can cross claim bounties. It has also been clarified that using Guardian X does not prevent the bounty token if the unit is killed in this way.

Charge has been updated to trigger off of Move Actions.. not just moves. so you can no longer No Time for Sorrows Luke into melee for an additional attack in the turn.

Climb and Clamber has been updated to allow units to use two clamber actions contiguously to allow units to climb over terrain without a flat surface on the top. previously this would not be possible because there was a stop in between actions where the game stat would be illegal. cohesion while climbing has been updated for clairty, but not changed.

Cohesion has been updated to prevent models from being placed into cohesion with any part of their base overhanging a ledge. previously this was only true while climbing, not while performing a standard move. Cohesion also has new duplicate entries mirroring the cohesion clauses in climb and clamber.

Compulsory Move has a new clause stating that if a unit has its maximum speed reduced while performing its compulsory move, it still counts as performing its maximum move as long as it has moved its full legal distance. This clarifies the interaction between immobilize tokens and compulsory move as well as difficult terrain and other possible game effects, but it doesn’t change existing rules.

Cover has been updated to read that when determining cover once you reach the “draw line from center to center” step the line is determined using a top down “2D” view. this prevents terrain that doesn’t touch the ground, but would otherwise provide heavy cover from not providing cover. Cover has also been updated to explicitly state that units on higher elevation will should have cover (unless slanted roof, etc.), this has always been true, but now clarified.

Declaring Terrain has been added. Although nothing in it is new from the section regarding terrain, there was still a lot of confusion around how cover is determined from terrain. this section takes the information in the beginning of the book and breaks it down into more clear bullet points.

Defeated has been updated to read that models leaving the battlefield during movement, even if their complete move brings them back onto the field, are defeated. it also has a clause stating that objective markers cant leave a battlefield with a unit. This is new and it was previously unclear if a unit counted as leaving a battle mid-move or only on final position.

Detonate has been clarified that it affects units in range, whether or not they are engaged in melee. It has also been clarified that detonate happens after its trigger, but before any additional triggers such as charge, steady, etc. with the exception of standby

Detonate X has been updated to have the same language on timing as detonate.

Discipline X keyword has been added. When a unit with Discipline X is issued and order it may remove X suppression tokens.

Emplacement Troopers have lost the ability to claim objectives or to repair/sabotage objectives.

Engaged has been clarified but not changed about what actions can affect engaged units.

Enrage X has been added. A unit with Enrage X gains courage - and charge. if it heals wounds to under the threshold it loses courage - and charge. when it gains courage - it immediately loses all suppression tokens on it and can not gain suppression.

Entourage X has been added. Entourage X grants essentially a bonus order from the unit that has it to an eligible unit that meets the requirements set forth under Entourage. This order must be issued to the unit named, meaning battle meditation does not work on it but otherwise triggers all normal effects that would happen as if the order came from a command card.

Immobilize has been updated to match the wording of Compulsory Move.

Indomitable has been added. A unit with this rolls red defense dice instead of white when rallying.

Ion has been clarified that you lose all ion tokens after your activation even if you have more than 2 ion tokens. It also clarifies that you can still perform free actions even if you lose both your normal actions. this is a clarification not a change.

Jump X has been updated to clarify that it allows you to ignore difficult terrain as well as to move through vehicles with a height equal or less than your jump value.

Leader has been added. A mini with the Leader keyword counts as the units leader and follows all normal rules of being the leader of that unit. the normal unit leader is no longer the leader.

Leaving the Battlefield has been updated. the language is now inline with the Defeated language. In addition you cannot voluntarily leave the battle by yourself or an opponent. this prevents force push from removing units, as well as units leaving the table to prevent bounty etc.

Master of the Force X has been updated to refresh the cards at the end of the activation - previously it was the end of the round. this is a big boost to Vaders Implacable as well as a general quality of life improvement for missed opportunities.

Melee has been clarified that while engaged, when holes in the engagement are created by minis that are defeated, models move in to fill those hole. If a model for some reason cant be placed into engagement with the enemy again, it is no longer in melee. this is a clarification not a change.

Movement has been updated to have its language inline with that of Leaving the Battlefield as well as accounting for Emplacement Troopers now. A mini now can not be placed so that its base overhangs a ledge at any point in movement, previously this was only during climbing.

Emplacement Trooper Movement added. They cannot climb or clamber, cannot move through vehicles, but can move through other trooper minis.

Ground Vehicle movement updated to state it cannot move through emplacement troopers or displace them.

Non-Combatant Keyword added. Non-combatants cannot add unit weapon dice to attack pools, and cannot have wounds assigned to them unless they are the only non-leader mini left.

Objective Tokens have been updated to read that when you initially claim a token, it remains in the same spot until the unit moves - you can’t reposition it on the claim action. the language has also been updated inline with Leaving the Battlefield.

Pulling the Strings card action has been added. The attack or move count as actions, they trigger everything normal attack or move actions would trigger. the attack action since it is out of activation does not count towards the units attack action during its activation.

Range has been updated to read that range is always measured horizontal to the playing field. this makes the game cleaner and the game state more easy to figure out in terms of distance. Range has also been clarified that when measuring for an attack you measure from the unit leader, but most other abilities unless specifically stated are from mini to mini. these are both clarifications not changes.

Repair X Capacity Y card action has been added. You can use Repair X to remove wound, ion, or damage tokens from a vehicle at range 1 and in line of sight up to a total of X wounds. each action places 1 wound counter on the card with Repair X, only one wound no matter how many you repair, once you have wounds equal to your Y value you may no longer repair.

Resilience has been updated to reflect Repair ability. once a vehicle reaches its threshold of wounds it gains a damage token, if the damage token is removed it does not gain another one after suffering additional wounds, even if those wounds cause it to go over the threshold again (due to repair removing wounds).

Restore keyword added. References Treat and Repair.

Scout X is clarified to only work on deployment, not on place effects like Rapid Reinforcement.

Sidearm Keyword is added. A mini with the sidearm keyword must use the weapon on its card and cannot elect to use the units generic weapon.

Stand By action / token has been updated. Ground Vehicles can now use the Stand By action.

Teamwork keyword. units with teamwork gain dodge and aim tokens that their teamwork partner gains and in the same quantity as long as they are within range 1-2 of each other. Teamwork does not trigger off itself, thus ending the infinite loop.

Treat X Capacity Y card action added. Works the same as repair. Cannot treat Emplacement Troopers. Can add troopers back to a unit as long as there are members of that unit in range to target with the ability in the first place. restored minis must have been defeated this round.

Vehicle Damage tokens updated to be inline with the language of Repair.

Vehicles updated to state that ground vehicles can now perform stand by while repulsor vehicles cannot.

Weak Point Keyword updated to account for charges and area weapons.

Rules for team battle have been added

Card Errata:

KEY POSITIONS This battle card should read: "Setup: Place an objective token on the piece of terrain closest to the center of the battlefield (if multiple pieces are equally close to the center, the blue player chooses). Then, starting with the blue player, each player places 1 objective token on a piece of terrain. Each token must be placed on a piece of terrain that is completely outside all deployment zones and beyond range 1 of any other piece of terrain with an objective token. If a player is unable to place a token according to these rules, they can place that token on any piece of terrain that does not have an objective token and that is outside all deployment zones. If that token still cannot be placed, then it is not placed. Victory: At the end of the game, for each terrain piece with an objective token, the player who has the most unit leaders in base contact with that terrain piece gains 1 victory token."

RAPID REINFORCEMENTS This battle card should read: "Starting with the blue player, each player sets aside 1 to 2 friendly non-commander, non-operative trooper units, marking each unit with a condition token. When a player draws an order token with a rank that matches a friendly set-aside unit, if they cannot choose a unit on the battlefield with a matching rank, they must place that set aside unit onto the battlefield, beyond range 2 of all enemy units if able. That unit is treated as activated and its order token is placed facedown."

Upgrade Summary:

For 15 points and a force upgrade slot this upgrade gives you the ability to spend a free action and exhaust the upgrade to gain a dodge token.

Upgrade Analysis:

Being able to grab a free dodge token when you need it can be a life saver, especially if you have Deflect or Master of the Force - significantly increasing your uses out of this upgrade.

Suggested Use:

There is rarely a bad time to include Force Reflexes - it is often a go to or at least a good upgrade to consider when you have points to spend and no other pressing needs. Force Reflexes will greatly increase the longevity and action economy of the unit it is included on.

Available In:

Upgrade Summary:

For 10 points and a force upgrade slot this upgrade gives you the ability to make an attack with your melee weapon at range 1-2 keeping all of the keywords but only using half your dice.

Upgrade Analysis:

For force users who have a melee weapon but no ranged weapon, this card can at a lot of utility and versatility. For force users who already have a ranged weapon this is often better passed up unless there is a specific keyword on their melee weapon you are looking to use.

Suggested Use:

At the moment this card is best used on Darth Vader who is the only force user without a ranged attack and who can combine this card with Relentless to make a ranged attack after moving if he did not make it to melee range.

Available In:

Upgrade Summary:

For 10 points and a force upgrade slot this upgrade gives you the ability to override all restrictions on one order you issue when the commander this is equipped to is the one issuing the order.

Upgrade Analysis:

This card is not useful in many styles of lists, but in the lists that want this upgrade this is priceless. Being able to issue orders to your anchor piece who is far from your commander can be a game deciding advantage.

Suggested Use:

Battle Meditation really shines in a diverse list led by a force user - at this point it is best used on Emperor Palpatine who can also combine his Entourage ability to give incredible activation control to your force. Although it is also good on Luke who gets less benefit out of other force upgrades because of his lack of Master of the Force, and this upgrade not exhausting.

Available In:

Upgrade Summary:

For 5 points and a force upgrade slot this upgrade gives a light side force user the ability to dump suppression on a unit at range 1-2.

Upgrade Analysis:

This card is incredibly powerful allowing you to panic a corps unit or suppress an elite unit who is outside of their commanders aura. Being a free action instead of costing you an attack action means that often you can put 3 suppression out in a turn which is quite powerful.

Suggested Use:

Because this card exhausts and light side has no current masters of the force, this card sees limited play. As soon as light side has a master of the force however I expect this card to make a huge return and to really influence the action economy of the game.

Available In:

Upgrade Summary:

For 5 points and a force upgrade slot this upgrade gives a dark side force user the ability to scalpel out specific miniatures from a unit.

Upgrade Analysis:

One wound in exchange for 5 points and a force upgrade slot seems like a bad deal, but when used right it can be a game changer. Because Choke lets you select the specific mini, not just the unit, you are able to kill key pieces making the trade much more in your favor.

Suggested Use:

With the release of Specialist Pack and weapon specialists weapons becoming the back bone of more and more lists, the ability to scalpel out these figures becomes more and more valuable. You are able to remove a special weapon or specialist upgrade mini such as comms or medic - and in multi-wound units you are able to dictate which figure has to have wounds allocated to it, for example you can force choke an Electrostaff Guard or Wookiee Bowcaster and then the controlling player is forced to allocate future wounds to that figure until it is defeated because of how wound allocation works. Making this upgrade useful and ever increasing in value as more and more unit additions are added.

Available In:

Upgrade Summary:

For 5 points and a force upgrade slot this upgrade gives a dark side force user a free aim token each time you take 1 or more damage. .

Upgrade Analysis:

This card is a little odd - action economy is strong, and the more free actions you can get, like getting aim tokens, the better you will do - however this one comes at the cost of taking damage which is something you want to avoid. Especially if you are taking damage on the unit after you have activated and thus losing the ability to even use that aim token.

Suggested Use:

Because of the risk/reward and timing requirements on this card, as well as the restrictions of dark side force user for even equipping it, there is really only one unit who wants to take it at this point… Emperor Palpatine. On the turn that he uses And Now You Will Die the Anger upgrade card will add a ton of damage output to his attacks - this is the most reliable way to get use out of this card.

Available In:

Wookiee Warriors are self sufficient skirmishers, they are melee power houses, and they are hardy enough to shrug off even the most vicious attacks. In Star Wars: Legion the Wookiee Warriors are a Rebel elite unit option. They are fast, sturdy, and efficient in melee - and as such see specialized use in of Rebel forces.

Base Unit Summary:

Damage Output - Ranged: Below Average: 3

Damage Consistency - Ranged: Average: N/A

Damage Output - Melee: Average: 3.75

Damage Consistency - Melee: Average: N/A

Damage Resistance: Below Average: 16.7%

Wounds: Above Average: 9

Attrition: Above Average: 3/figure

Range: Below Average: 1-2

Speed: Average: 2

Courage: Above Average: 2 + Indomitable

Role: Melee, Skirmisher

Unit Role:

Wookiee Warriors are a skirmishing unit who are outstanding in melee, but but bring some ranged options too. They are self sufficient and mobile and thus a strong flanking unit. Their primary job is to engage the enemy units and hold objectives in locations that other troops aren’t suited for, and to mix things up between ranged and melee.

Base Unit Analysis:

The base unit of Wookiee Warriors are slightly below average in damage output, but way above average in attrition value, meaning that although they don’t do a ton of damage upfront, they will do more than average over the course of a whole game. It is also important to note that they mix things up almost equally well between ranged and melee. They are hard to panic and suppress at courage 2 and Indomitable making them fairly self sufficient. They can handle any terrain easily and at speed with their Unhindered and Expert Climber keywords, combined with Charge makes them ideal at taking enemies by surprise from hard to get places. All of this combined makes Wookiee Warriors one of the most versatile units to date.

Unique Upgrade Analysis:

Bowcaster Wookiee: This upgrade adds a fourth figure to the unit increasing their health from 9 to 12 and their ranged damage from 3 to 4.25, it also increases melee damage from 3.75 to 5 making them quite efficient in melee. Interestingly though, the addition of Pierce and Impact 1 at range makes their efficiency at range quite good as well - increasing their expected damage after damage resistance from 1.5 to 3.125. Because of how much this adds to attrition, damage, and efficiency the Bowcaster is strongly recommended when taking the Wookiee Warriors.

Suggested Upgrades:

The Wookiee Warriors have two Training upgrade slots, a Gear slot, a Grenade slot, and a Specialist upgrade slot.

The Wookiee Warriors begin at 75 points making them relatively expensive, but not inefficient. Allowing you room to give them upgrades to better suit their role in your list. In general though it is best to keep the unit under 120 points to maintain efficiency.

The first consideration when upgrading your Wookiee Warriors is whether or not you want to take the Bowcaster. Generally it is a good idea to increase the units attrition value from the extra health, as well as increase their damage output. If you are taking the Wookiee Warriors you should generally be taking the Bowcaster as well.

The second place to look at upgrades on the Wookiee Warriors is in their Training upgrades. The two to look at are Tenacity which works really well on them with their high health and low armor save, nearly ensuring that they will get their extra Tenacity die - increasing their expected damage output in melee by 0.875. If you have taken the Bowcaster and Tenacity your total cost is now 114 and your melee damage output (after taking 1 wound) is 5.875 increasing their efficiency as well as their attrition value. Combining this with Hunter will also give them an aim token when targeting a wounded character or unit greatly increasing both their damage output and their action economy. Tenacity is a strong choice but generally Hunter can be skipped on Wookiee Warriors.

Their Gear slot contains some useful upgrades you can take if you have the points to spare, but are by no means essential. Recon Intel is the first Gear upgrade to look at, allowing the Wookiee Warriors to get into position early and claim their objective or lay in ambush.

The Grenade slot is a bit unnecessary on the Wookiee Warriors as their ranged attack is decent at range 2 and their melee is quite good. Skip the grenade slot unless there is a specific thing you are lacking like Impact.

Suggested Tactics:

The tactics for the Wookiee Warrior at their simplest form are quite basic: move them up to engage enemies at range until you get close enough to charge in and wreck them in melee. The hardest part of playing the wookiee Warriors is figuring out that transition between when to stop shooting and charge in to melee.

Because of their high courage value and Indomitable keyword they are excellent at playing further away from your commander and main forces and as such make for excellent flankers. This is the primary way you will want to run the Wookiee Warriors - as a self sufficient force who is able to hold a flank on their own. Their Expert Climber & Unhindered keyword makes them even better at running through cover and hard to reach places to either claim objectives or ambush enemies… and you will be wanting to spend time in cover with them a lot to help offset their inherently low damage resistance.

The second way you can run the Wookiee Warriors is as a speed bump or a counter punch to your main forces. Because in Star Wars: Legion troops can move through troops, in situations where you don’t want your Wookiees off jungling on their own you can run them with your main forces in waves. Either as the first wave that enemies will focus on allowing the rest of your troops to get into position - they will often die in this role, but that doesn’t make them a waste if they slow your opponent long enough for the rest of your forces to do what they need to do. To run them as a counter punch, put them behind your main forces and once the main forces begin their engagements the Wookiees can then take advantage of their Charge keyword to run through your front line and start swinging in melee.

It’s a bit hard to give a complete breakdown of how to use the Wookiees because they are so general and universally good. But the good new is you can put them into any position or any role in the battlefield and you won’t regret it - .

Counter Tactics:

The counter to wookiees is fairly simple. Their poor damage resistance is their downfall, but they have a high pool of health. So the solution is to put a large volume of shots into them to take them down. The key is to prioritize putting your low value shots into them first as most keywords will be a waste on them. Ideally these shots come from units that put out volume instead of quality such as Stormtroopers or Rebel Troopers with a Z6. Keep in mind that they can advance up to 2 range bands and make a melee attack with charge, so engage them from range 3 and beyond and remember to back up if it looks like the Wookiees can advance into charge range soon.

“Look, I can't get involved. I've got work to do. It's not that I like the Empire; I hate it, but there's nothing I can do about it right now... It's all such a long way from here.” -Luke Skywalker, A New Hope

Why we do it

Building a community is a daunting task. Unless you work at a FLGS (Friendly Local Gaming Store), no one is paying you to run somebody else’s game night. Why would you bother spending your own personal time creating a community for a game? What could you gain from convincing people to come out and play with their plastic toys?

Gaming communities have always accompanied Table Top Games. No matter how large or small, creating a dedicated group of people extends the life of your game immensely. Chance meetings grow in to entertaining game nights, and eventually big events that players look forward to each year. Communities also provide support for their members and provide a genuine sense of belonging. Building these groups is therefore not just a critical step in keeping a game alive, but also a rewarding endeavor that can lead to life long friendships.

Where to Begin

“We have hope. Rebellions are built on hope!” -Jyn Erso, Rogue One

Starting your community can take many forms. Many groups initially start off with small meet-ups, Facebook groups, and text message chains. There are several key ingredients you need to kick your group off:

Game of Choice

Common Meeting Location(s)

Access to Product

Core Group of Players

Game of Choice: Self explanatory, but still needs to be mentioned. Though this article will focus on FFG’s game Star Wars: Legion, but it can apply to any type of group you start. The group needs to have a single game to focus on. Although its perfectly normal to divert to other things, most people will join your community to play the game it started with. On the other side of the coin, having a new game to distract from the woes of your current one may make the return to the original that much better.

Common Meeting Location: Some gaming communities start with known friends, while others begin with people who notice they’re taking the same product off the shelf every week. No matter where you get your start, you need to decide on where and when you are going to meet. Finding a common day to play is often one of the greatest barriers to group when they start, so don’t be afraid to bounce around at first. Depending on your game, a players home can work just as fine as your FLGS. Gaming stores are recommended because they can often do some of the recruitment work for you, and will often have all the tools to play Legion (Tables, Chairs, Terrain, etc). They might be the reason why your group started to meet, and now you are trying to grow what you’ve joined. Don’t be afraid to invest in whatever your choice of meeting location is - if they need terrain, provide it!

Access to Product: Depending on your meeting location, this could be easy or this could be difficult. Most homes that I’ve been to don’t stock product on the regular, so access to a store (if your group doesn’t meet at one) is obviously preferable. Online retailers can help with this problem somewhat. That being said, meeting at a store can convince it to stock your games product if it wasn’t already - I know of several stores that started to stock Battletech again years after the game dropped out of favor, just because people started showing up to play it every week. Gaming stores are business after all, and will eventually cater to your game if it becomes popular enough.

Core Group of Players: This one might also seem self explanatory, but it helps to see a familiar face every week. Over time, players will start to make friends with each other and in turn build the group. But you need a small group of people that are willing to meet on a consistent basis, and that must start out with a core group of 2-4 people that can be counted on to play at semi-regular intervals.

Gaining Ground

“We would be honored if you would join us.” -Darth Vader, The Empire Strikes Back

Alright so you have a place, game, and warm bodies to join you. Now it’s time to build upon the solid foundation you have started. Sustaining your group can take many forms, and there are many ways to go about it. Once a sense of normalcy has been achieved, your next step should be to start to add others to what you’ve already started. What comes next?

Lets take the following as an example:

Out of convenience, you and a friend meet at your FLGS every Wednesday night to throw down. You want others to play too, but are not quite sure where to start or how to get players involved.

This is where the magic of the 21st century often comes into play. Most stores or communities have social media groups that can assist you in growing your group. Facebook, Meetup, even Whatsapp groups can all be used to coordinate your game night. The FLGS in question can even assist by creating this page or making announcements for you. I know more than one store that has a main page, as well as related 40k, Magic, and FFG sub-groups. Other existing groups like the Star Wars Legion Facebook group, Fantasy Flight Game Forums, or Legion Discord can all serve as meeting grounds for real life events.

Local stores can also help recruit with demo kits, which I recommend you help build if you want to attract new players. While store owners or staff will often take charge (because having a demo product usually helps their sales), you can help by volunteering to paint a core set or run a demo night. Demo nights are a great opportunity to spread the word about your own gaming group! Running a core set game that looks professional (Star Wars themed terrain, painted models, well versed players) leaves an impression, and will make players want to come back for more. Your group could also sponsor a core set as a giveaway prize to players that show up to your demo night. The sky is the limit here!

Depending on the popularity of your game, you could also consider running a campaign, league, or tournament. Your town or local store might not have a large community playing your game, but other players just outside your area may be desperate for a structured group or organized play. Again, this is an opportunity for your group to shine - sponsor an escalation league where the players don’t have to have an 800 point list ready to go. Make a group sign or put up league standings to generate curiosity.

The important thing to remember here is that this game is in its infancy, and it will take time to grow. Not meeting for weeks at a time is okay, as long as your meetings continue. If you continue to meet and play, others will take notice and join you.

Sustaining Growth

“Do or do not - there is no try.” -Yoda, The Empire Strikes Back

Believe it or not, the easiest part of all this is starting your group and building its membership. Sustaining what you’ve built often involves mistakes, testing, and creativity. Once your group is up and growing, it will be up to its members to keep things new and interesting.

Most games will naturally help with this, releasing content at regular intervals to keep their players interested. Fantasy Flight Games has several Organized Play Kits, which are a great way at giving out cool prizes without breaking the bank. Their alternate art cards are particularly awesome, and valuable even to people who don’t actively play Star Wars Legion.

Another method could be to contact businesses who make Star Wars Legion content. Custom figures, Star Wars Terrain, Gaming Mats, and other goodies can all be used as rewards for your players. Players new to Legion will certainly ask how you recreated the Battle of Endor, or where the awesome token bag came from!

There is no “right” way to sustain your community, but playing regularly is a good place to start. Even if it’s just you showing up every week to play, consistency is the key to victory and over time you will see results. Star Wars is iconic and FFG has something very special on their hands here. The title will carry some of the weight for you, but its up to the players to do the rest. The community won’t build itself!

The Emperor himself. This is the man at the head of the entire Galactic Empire, calling all the shots - if he has joined the fight, the stakes are high. The Emperor is a truly terrifying sight on the battlefield, he dominates in almost every category destroying enemies at range and up close, and influencing opponents plans on a grand scale. In Star Wars: Legion the Emperor is an Imperial Commander and a force to be reckoned with, but comes at a steep price.

Base Unit Summary:

Damage Output - Ranged: Average: 3.75

Damage Consistency - Ranged: Above Average: Pierce 2, Surge to Crit

Damage Output - Melee: Average: 3.75

Damage Consistency - Melee: Above Average: Pierce 2, Surge to Crit

Damage Resistance: Above Average: 66.8% + Immunity Pierce

Wounds: Below Average: 5

Attrition: Above Average Average: 5/figure

Range: Below Average: 1-2

Speed: Below Average: 1

Courage: Above Average: 4

Role: Commander, Ranged, Melee, Control,

Unit Role:

Emperor Palpatine is a force to be reckoned with. He does a large amount of damage in a moderate sized area. Because he is slow he is best suited for projecting his threat as area denial and control or focusing on one key target. Practically you can think of him similar to Darth Vader, but trading survivability for threat projection and influence. Palpatine’s main role is as a commander and a denial control piece.

Base Unit Analysis:

The Emperor is the single most expensive unit to date - but what does that really get you when all of his stats are more or less average? A lot actually, but it comes at an additional cost of more than just points, Palpatine also has a high risk/reward built into his play style. Palpatine does an average amount of damage, but between Surge to Crit and Pierce 2 Palpatine is pushing a lot more damage through than you might expect. Just as a comparison an average unit will put out 4 damage and the defender would cancel 2 meaning 2 damage gets through - with Palpatine the defenders 2 cancels would be canceled meaning all of your damage goes through making his throughput double the average and able to kill entire units at medium range under the right circumstances.

Palpatine also has the best damage resistance in the game at the moment. He stops 66.8% of all damage coming through and opponents cannot mitigate that with pierce. Palpatine is also a single small based figure meaning that he has the best chance to get cover and block LoS to himself when needed. This combination should make the Emperor easily one of the hardest figures to defeat - however he has a fairly limited health pool so any damage that does slip by is quite serious. One of the best ways to be extra sure Palpatine is safe is to accompany him with Guardian units - this adds to his opportunity cost but despite the additional cost, he is still quite powerful and effective.

One of the key abilities of Palpatine however is a new action - Pulling the Strings. This action gives another trooper unit an out of activation move or attack action. On turns that Palpatine isn’t able to attack himself, he can often Pull the Strings so that a nearby unit can. Ideally this is used on a high value unit like Darth Vader, Royal Guard, or Snowtroopers who all double down on this efficiency and can additionally use their free move to generate a free attack. However this is just as great on long range units like E-Webs and DLTs who can be used to double their efficiency at range. It is hard to determine a point value for an ability like this, but the ability is quite powerful. Although the ability can target Palpatine, because it is specifically an attack action and not just an attack, it does not allow the Emperor to attack twice in a turn.

Command Cards:

And Now… You Will Die: initiative 1, Palpatine only; this command card allows Palpatine to suffer one wound and one suppression to perform a free attack as many times as he would like, these attacks deal an immobilize token in addition to the other normal effects of Palpatine’s attacks. This card is powerful and versatile in more ways than you might think. The most obvious use is to spring it on a key unit the opponent moves too close to Palpatine and to focus fire on it until it’s no longer a problem. It is super effective and can come from further away than people might expect. Because the attack is not an action it means that Palpatine can double move into range and then start attacking, but if the extra move isn’t necessary to get the range then Palpatine can use that second action to use make a normal attack action saving a wound on Palpatine or to move back to safety after doing the work that needs to be done. Palpatine can’t spend his final wound to make an attack thought, because as soon as he takes the wound as the cost to attack, he is defeated and therefore no longer available to attack. So this limits Palpatine’s maximum number of attacks to five if he spends one action to attack and then spends four wounds on non-action attacks - giving him an approximate damage output of 18.75 for the activation. But if Palpatine has the Anger upgrade equipped this number is bumped to an obscene 23.5 due to the free aims with an effective pierce value of 10. If you focus all of that on one target, there is nothing in the game that can repel firepower of that magnitude. If the opponent gives you multiple targets you can spend Palpatine’s life force for attacks to destroy all of them, however that can often be quite a steep trade seeing as the Emperor costs well over 200 points - you would have to ensure that you win the attrition trade at the end of the attacks either by removing all of the targets (or at least 200 points worth) or by guaranteeing that you score a victory point. When presented with multiple targets, it is often best to use this card to splash damage around the enemies and take advantage of the immobilize tokens it grants to allow the Emperor to retreat back to safety and allow more of your forces to intervene. The most powerful use of this card though, is the psychological one. Your opponent simply knowing that you are holding this card will often cause them to pause when considering if they should commit units to take the point that the emperor holds. If you never use this card because your opponent is too scared to come in close, then this card has accomplished more than you could have hoped for in playing it.

Give In To Your Anger: initiative 2, Palpatine Only; this command card allows you to dictate to an opponent the order they activate in. It can be absolutely devastating in the right situations, but it is a high risk card with a lot of opportunities to just not do much. The ideal situation is to play this early game on a unit that has short range weapons and then focus more suppression on them until they panic and flee or hope they move away from the table edge into a position you can lay fire into them - any of the commanders at this point would be good targets. Another ideal scenario is to play this card late in a game when targets to attack are limited, forcing an enemy unit to move or panic away from an objective. Although these are the ideal scenarios, in reality they are not how the card will be use - In actuality both those outcomes will be rare and easily mitigated by a clever opponent, so the real use of this card is simply to deny and deny an opponent their ideal order of operations. If they have a synergy combo, to force them to activate in in the wrong order, or if they are holding a key piece until later in the turn, to force them to activate it first. The suppression is just a bonus if it happens and a trap for players who can’t find a way around it, and shouldn’t be your primary focus for the card. If you can force an opponent to activate their anchor piece early or activate a synergy combo in the wrong order, you have gotten as much as you can hope for out of this card and cost your opponent a sub-optimal turn. Under this point of view, the ideal outcome is to force an opponent to activate their anchor piece first, before the rest of their army, forcing them to keep their anchor back hidden and safe for an additional turn or to move them forward anyways so that the Emperor’s forces can focus them down. This is also useful when an opponent has a key piece that they are expecting to get back to safety using a low pip card, you can force them to activate something inconsequential first, giving you the opportunity to destroy their key piece or tie it up in melee using the Emperor or another melee piece like Vader or the Royal Guards.

An Entire Legion: initiative 3, all eligible units; This card is fairly straightforward - you issue an order token to each friendly unit within command range of Emperor Palpatine (range 3 unless assisted by Comms upgrades, Commanding Presence, or Battle Meditation). This is a moderate ability, but that is okay with how powerful the Emperor’s one and two pip cards are. This card essentially gives you perfect control of your order of activations, which is an edge you can give yourself during list building - however if you didn’t build this edge into your list, for example if you have multiple operatives, elite, and specialist units or if you have units that gain benefits from being issued an order then this could be useful.

Unique Upgrade Analysis:

palpatine has no unique upgrades at this time

Suggested Upgrades:

The Emperor has three Force upgrade slots and one Command upgrade slot. Considering the Emperor’s Master of the Force 2 ability allowing the Emperor to ready 2 force abilities at the end of each turn, it is a good idea to consider taking at least 2 force powers to maximize the points you’ve already spent on the base cost of Palpatine.

Anger is a new Force upgrade that comes with Palpatine - it is ideal if your playstyle focuses around using Palpatine as a threat or denial piece and pairs really nicely with And Now… You Will Die but is not of use most other turns. Its low point cost means that it is a great addition to the Emperor if you have room for it, but it is not essential on him.

Force Push is a strong upgrade choice for Palpatine, giving him more control over the enemies units. Allowing the Emperor to make moves with the opponent to set them up to run off the table, move them away from objectives, or line them up for the rest of your forcest to handle. Force Choke is also a strong choice on Palpatine for similar reasons, allowing Palpatine to inflict specific wounds to key models and control the opponent. Both Take advantage of Master of the Force 2 and are strong choices on the Emperor.

Force Reflexes is almost mandatory on Palpatine. He is going to be a fire magnet for the opponent and any wounds you save are essential to how well he functions throughout the game.

Battle Meditation is a Force upgrade I would normally advise away from, but it has an interesting interaction on the Emperor that we should cover. When the Emperor takes Royal Guard he can issue one additional order to a Guard at range 1-2. Because Battle Meditation doesn’t specify that the order has to come from your command card you could use Battle Meditation to issue that order to another unit anywhere on the board. Not an especially strong tool, but one worth looking at. Update 1.2.0 states that Entourage has to go to the named unit, so Battle Meditation does not work in this way anymore, but you can still use cards like An Entire Legion to issue orders to everything in range, move the order that would go to the guard to a unit out of range, and then use Entourage to issue an order to the guard

Lastly is Palpatine’s Command upgrade slot. If you have a varied list and plan on taking advantage of An Entire Legion then Improvised Orders could be a strong choice for your list. But in most cases Esteemed Leader or Commanding Presence are better choices. Consider Commanding Presence if you have multiple units of Royal Guard to offset the need of Esteemed Leader - but if you find that you often have your guards away from palp and doing work then pick up Esteemed Leader to use some Corps units as human shields.

This is a lot of upgrades and scenarios to consider, so for an easy place to start the recommended build for the Emperor is Palpatine with Anger, Force Reflexes, Force Push, and Esteemed Leader for a total cost of 245.

Suggested Tactics:

Emperor Palpatine is a nightmare on the table - nothing in his path is safe. However Palpatine is relatively slow and so you must be very purposeful when deploying him at the beginning of the game. You should have an idea of where he will go and what he will be doing the entire game from that point on. Generally it is best to deploy him as near the objectives as possible and then move him as directly and swiftly towards those objectives as he can go - ensuring that he is likely to encounter the most enemies and make the most use of his powers there, or that he can persuade them to not contest that objective granting you points.

Make sure you are advancing cautiously with Palpatine - making sure to keep behind cover, use force reflexes, and keep Guardian units within range 1 at every step. Whenever possible Palpatine should take advantage of the safety of melee to keep him from getting focused upon by the enemy. The dodge token will go a long way towards increasing The Emperors survivability vs shooting, but if he is able to make it into melee he is relatively safe and doesn't have to use force reflexes if it is he has more important Force upgrades to recharge such as Force Push or Force Choke. Often it is a good idea to use Force Push to pull a unit into melee with Palpatine even if he can't make an attack that turn because being safe vs shooting is often more important than getting stuck in melee with a unit you might not have wanted to engage - especially if you can use Force Push on the following turn to be able to move freely again.

mastering timing and positioning is the key to unlocking The Emperor’s maximum potential. The range 2 on his Lightning and the range 1 that is common among Force upgrades is something to constantly keep in mind. It can be devastating to have a plan that hinges on using all your abilities against one target and then realizing that half of them are out of range. It is also crucial to ensure that you are always within range 1 of your guardian units to ensure that the Emperor doesn’t fall victim to stray blaster fire.

Keep in mind when playing Palpatine that he is relatively slow and that means that you often won't make it to the best tactical location every turn and this will leave him vulnerable to being shot. Similarly it's important to keep in mind that Palpatine only has so much movement he can make in a game and so when planning his strategy for the game you should assume he is only going to make it halfway across the board - pick a reasonable objective or defensive point and hold it.

It is also important to think about the effect that Palpatine has on opponents tactical decisions, often they will go out of their way to avoid him with their units. Knowing all of these pieces of information leads us to using Palpatine as a denial and control piece more than an offensive piece. One of the strongest ways to play the Emperor is to aggressively move him towards an objective and then keep him there as a deterrent. He is an expensive scenario piece, but he is completely worth it if the enemy avoids that objective all together because of him, and it is also worth it if they move units in towards the objective to be cut down by him and his guards.

Palpatine is best played with a strong escort. Generally this will be Royal Guard as he has extra synergies with them, but if he is equipped with Esteemed Leader then most units will do. The main idea though is to have a guardian unit close at hand to be a shield to the Emperor when the opponents focus fire on him. It also allows you to get more use out of the Emperor’s Pulling the Strings ability which allows you to make an out of activation move or attack with a trooper unit. Usually this will be Royal Guards who ideally could move and then use a charge attack, but this could also be Stormtroopers with DLT or Snowtroopers with Flamethrower, or if you somehow manage to have the points this could be Darth Vader.

The main takeaway is that Palpatine is incredibly powerful but is also a resource hog to make him sustainable and efficient. He will reward patient players or players who like to gamble on high risk high reward scenarios like a commander with a single health left.

Counter Tactics:

When playing against the Emperor he should be your priority target. Not only because of the amount of damage he can cause you when he closes the distance, but also because the opponent has invested a large amount of points into him and his bodyguards and is counting on the high investment to work together and pay off. If you are able to take Palpatine off the table early then you are much more easily able to suppress and panic the enemy troops into futility.

Killing the Emperor can be tough, but it’s not impossible. The best way to kill Palpatine is at range, and because of Guardian and Force Reflex it is better to send high crit chance dice at him - mitigating his defensive tech. Because Palpatine is so slow and has to plan his movements so far in advance, it is fairly likely you will be able to position troops to take shots at him while he is out in the open - when you do start dedicating resources to taking out the dark lord you should go all in - keep shooting until he is down. But be wary of his counter strike if you fail to defeat him.

If Palpatine does manage to close the gap and make it near your troops, or if the situation of the particular objective scenario demands you to move in close to him, there is nothing wrong with engaging him with a bait unit to tie him to a position where the rest of your forces can attack him after he has cut down that unit. Keep in mind that between Force Push, Force Lightning, and whatever units he brought as bodyguards though that the diversion wont last long.

When facing Palpatine never forget about his 1 and 2 pip command cards. Although his 1 pip can do a lot of damage and is scary to think about, his 2 pip card is generally the one that will interfere with you plans the most - especially if you were planning on using your activation advantage as part of your strategy.